The Sun. — London, England, 1809-12-01 00:00:00

~-~- TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR, 1 have read with due attention the various publi ciltlons which the disturbed spirit of The 'limes has, of late, poured forth against the Royal Dock-Yard of'MtUord, and which have met with such fair cor remon from The Sun. Your liberal readiness to undeceive the public, respeaiing many uncandid misrepresentations which have been advanced on this subjeCt in The Times, inclines me to solicit your insertion ,of a few observations conneaed with these details, and which seem not to have been sufficient- ly noticed. hitherto. /t is unnecessary to point out, that this attack, emanating from The Times, against the itoyal Dock yard of ilford, has not been introduced as a plain ciliclosure f fad, discussed with temperate reason iog, but it has been offered to the 7ublic with pre meditated, and not unpratised asperity, by a disap pointed p:ofessional fadion, in the hopes of agitat ing the public mind. Let those who regulate The Times answer for these deceptions, be it mine to as sist in their detection. The manner in which Mr. Barrallier's appoint :rent has now been introduced to notice, has been so stated, as almost to appear the aa of the present First Lcrd of the Admiralty but it should be more plainly stated, that Mr. -Barraliier received his first appointment in Milford Dock-yard from Lord Spencer, when he so ably filled the situation of the First Lord at the Admiralty Board. When Lord Spencer quitted the Admiralty, Mr. Barrallier was continued in the same employment under Govern ment, and received the encouragement due to his superior talents from Lord St. Vincent, while he presided at 'the Admiralty, and afterwards be was . continued in the same employment in the Milford Dock-yard throughout the subsequent changes in the Admiralty, viz. under Lord Melville, Lord Barham, Lord' Howick, and Mr. Grenville, and from these Lord Mulgrave received Mr. Barrallier, and conti nued him under his protection.. These have been the long periods of Mr. Barral lier's service; apd . during which he has added much to the scientific improvement of the British Navy; and has furnished models worthy of imitation in the Aautilus, the Lavinia, and the .Milford. Wandering from inveaiyes so abundantly launch ed against' fir. Barrallier and the Royal Dock-yard .at Mtifoid, the !earned man is deteted next in the ho ' pourable occepation of colledino - leading paragraphs agiiiist the shores of Milford-Haven, and returning his saunter, he indulges the public with the following exposition :—" It is notorious that of-the I.jhOle coast of the British Empite, that near " Miltord4laven is the most dangerous to ap proach from the sea, and it is one to Which no " ships in distress could venture to run." _ _ _ , . Hal-such infornintion been derived from the Leda frigate, which was so unaccountably lost within . -Milford Haven, by altering her course, and steering her on the shore, and which calamity has, among ithers, continued the list of its im2 - linary dangers ? While thus warning the trade of the British Empire from these dangerous coasts, would it not have been a pious .at to have pointed out the shelter of safer shores, and more favoured harbours, and who could have ;tven more ample information as to theselm yeant voints, than the. Leader of the Leading Pa ragraphs of The Times? Let ine coniut , hiai, ssisti,a,at .tote s , to promul gate the advantages and security of Falmouth, as like'svise the expectations to be derived from that embryo 'asylum for shipping, amidst the Scilly islands, which is now under the alive consideration of his friends, - and should the public ex.penditure have. been,great, to defray the improvements of the former situation, let its advantages reconcile, if pos sible, the recolleaion of those early risks which at tended some of our bestline.c.)l battle ships on their fist expe:imental visit to this harbour ; and prepare the public mind for the next unavoidable expence which must attend so monstrous an undertaking as that of rendering the Scilly Islands a retreat of safe ty, and a permanent station for the British Navy. These details are within the reach of the Leader q9` . the Leadinr , Paragraphs in The Times, and as they have been put in active progress by his Leading Friends, they may becoine fair set olfs against so f o ul a job, and so foul an expenditure of public money" 113:q which he states to have taken place at the Royal Dock-yard at Milford. OBSERVOR. MAILS. Gotter.burg!t, 2 Dublin, 2 Waterford. Liston, t Waterford. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS Da Y AT TWELVE O'CLOCK. Cc.tlSo;s -69 i 70 Red. Ann. 69 ;'s E S UN. ,j();.1.74 QUIS DICZRE. FAL:;I2I`,I RUDE 1T ? LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER. 1, 1809. Last night letters and papers. from Portugal to the 17th, reached Town. They in general 'Confirm t he pleasing accounts which hate reached Es of the ad yance of the SPanish Armies. Some of the letters ct~ntain a report of the, defeat of General BLAtiE, but the date is not, mentioned, nor any particulars siren, so, that we are inclined to hope, that this is merely a repetition of the old report in the French papers. The accounts from Gerona arc rather con- . tradidtory; according to some, it was relieved on the apth; but others state, that it is reduced to the ut- ino.t extremity for want of provisions. The Proclamation for assembling the Cortes,which the Spanish Papers contain, forrnS one of the most inte;:eoing appeals to the ,peoplewbom it immediate!. yy concerns,' and to every lather State, that has ever 'peep submitt.: .1 to mankind. That it will have a forcible operation upon the :SpaPi4t4§ cannot be doubted, atAl though of course a _will with difficulty y. ~3y over the Continent, yet the scrit4efits it contains, and the principles it inculotes, are too important and too interesting to mankind in general to be wholly concealed from the Nations now under". the dreadful yoke of France. This Manifesto is not a - mere declamation ; it points out the necessity of an improvement of the political system at hotne,as well as of an energetic and persevering resistance of the attempts of foreign usurpation ; and above all things, it recommends submission to the laws, and a re liance on the wisdom anti virtue of men who have made too many s.icrifices, and have too strong an interest in the welfare of their country, for any doubts to take Place respe&ing their talents, recti tude, and patriotism. We Dave reason to believe that the Spaniards are „animated by the strongest de termination to support the independence of their country ; and the Assembly of the Cortes, which this Proclamation announces, will, no doubt, con firm their enthusiasm, and give it the most effica cious diredtion for the national defence. The Viaory, Sir JASIES SAIMIAREZ, has arrived in the Downs from the Baltic, and passed on to Portsmouth. Official accounts have been received by Govern ment that the Islands of Zante and Cephalonia have been taken possession of by the Expedition which sailed from Sicily. The following is an extras of a letter. from an Officer on .board one of the ships of Admiral MAk• TIN'S Division in the late gallant enterprize. Bay of Rosas, Nov. I• "I am happy to inform you, that, on the 25th ult. the Anniversary of the Accession of our August King to the Throne, three ships of the line were lost to the enemy, though not added to our force in this quarter. The Ponione had joined us on Sunday, the 22d ult. the b signal flying for an enemy's fleet at sea, On the 23d, the Canopus )signal was made to chace to the E. N. E. the :wind being N.E. Chaced to windward all night, on the starboard tack, carrying a heavy press of sail and, although we sprung our main-top-mast, we still kept company with the Renown, Tigre, Sultan, Leviathan, and Cumber land, which ships were found near us at day-light.--: With these; the wind now ,at S.E. and the weather very hazy, with a heavy head swell, we pushed on, under an extraordinary sail, on the starboard tack, till the evening, when we bore up in chace of four sail, which we pu.shed into shoal water, near the mouths of the Rhone. Kept our wind for the night. Tacked and stood in again, early on the 25th . : at 7 a.m. bore up again after the same four ships, and drove them on shore, under all sail, near Frorriaunn. in sight of Montpellier; and under the batteries of Cette, being ourselves, when we hauled off, in less than six fathoms water; and a strong breeze right on the shore, and within point-blank shot of the enemy. Providentially none of us got aground. A'shot from Cette struck the Tigre, and a shell burst alongside, but did no damage. In the afternoon, the mizen mast of one, and the main and mizen mast of the other, on shore near Frontignan, went by the board. The former an 84- gun-ship, bearing a Rear-Admiral's flag, and the latter a large 74. It was now evident that they were lost to the enemy, but to make certainty doubly sure, the boats of the squadron were sent in, when the wind and swell moderated on the evening, of the 26th, to sound for a channel towards them. — At ap. 7/Z. however, we had the pleasure to see them in flames. At eight minutes after ten, the 74 blew up, and at twenty minutes past ten, the 84- gun ship, with a horrible explosion, was destroyed entirely. As to the 74 and frigate near the•batte ries of Cette, there can be no doubt of the former being lost, and the latter must have been very ma . terially damaged. I cannot positively say, but we have reason to believe that the ships thus destroyed were the Robu:t, of Ro, Rear-Admiral Baudin, and the Lion, of 74, . burnt, and the 74 at Cette is the Boreas. They bad come out from Toulon, with a convoy for Barcelona, five of which have been destroyed by the Pomone , one taken by the Redwing, and several of them with a store-ship, and, I believe, two'nrien of wa r brigs taken refuge in the Bay of Rosas, were at tacked last night by the Tigre, &c. The result we do not yet know entirely, but four sail of them are now coining out of the Bay with our little squadron, and explosions were heard during the night, so that the defeat has been general, and as far 33 I have yet learnt, without any loss on our side, which is, in my opiniOn, almost equal to a double victory." The more we contemplate our late success in the Mediterranean, the higher we are inclined to ap preciate its value. It has all the advantages of the most decisive vicaory, without any of the disadvan- tages. If an engagement had taken place between the two Fleets, many of our ships, of course, would have suffered severely in their hulls and rigging, and must have been sent home to be repaired ; but now a great service is, performed, and a great object of the Enemy has befu ff . ustrated, 'vy;tlf9ut any of cLAtr s hi ps having had even a rope yarn injured. We deeply regret the brave men who fell in the attack in the Bay of Rusas,‘ but when we consider the force of the Enemy, it becomes a matter of astonish ment that our loss was not greater. Upon the whole, we may state, without the hazard of con tradi6tion, that no service was ever more eteaualiy and completely performed, nor was there ever so important an advantage obtained with so small' a los-% From the movements of the Toulon Fleet, there is every reason to believe that it was intended that the whole of it should put to sea, and we are strongly inclined to think that a considerable part of it was destined for an attack upon Sicily. The French Admiral, probably, supposed, that the whole of our force would have gone after BAIT D I N'S division, and that the remainder of the Fleet might, in safety have pushed for Sicily. If this was his plan, the lance of Lord COLLINGWOOD defeated it. Wednesday morning bAng very tine, his MAJESTY, and Princesses. AuGusTA and SOPHIA, ..with their attendants, took their usual rides in Windsor Great Park ; but yesterday morning being very unfavour able, his MAJESTY did not ride, but the two Prin cesses took a ride in the Park. 'Wednesday night a Messenger arrived to the KING, at Windsor, with the news of Lord COLLINGWOOD'S destroying some of the French fleet. The four Officers of 13th Light Dragoons, whose trial commenced yesterday at Chelsea, are charged with, insubordination and impi - oper condnEt, at Hounslow Barracks.—A fifth, who was an a4. - lor in the same scene, made an apology. Yestesday being St. Andrew's Day, the Royal So ciety held their Anniversary Meeting at their apart ments in Somerset-place, when the President, the Right Hon. Sir JOSEPH BA-As.s, Bart. K.B. the name of the Society presented the Gold Medal (called Sir GODFREY COPLET'S) to Mr. EDWARD TROVGHTON, for the account of his method of divid ing Astronomical Instruments, printed in the last vo lume of the Philosophical Transa6tions. Afterwards the Society proceeded to_ the choice of the Council and Officers for the ensuing year, when on examining the ballots it appeared, that the following Gentlemen were elec=ted of the Council Of the Old Council : the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Part. K.B. ; Edward Ash, M.D. ; Sir Charles Blagden, lint; Samuel Goodenough ; Lord Bishop of Carlisle ; Henry Ca vendish, E.'sq. ; liumphry Davy, Esq. ; William Marsden, Esq.; Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, 0.D.; George, Earl of Mor ton; Sir John Thomas Stanley; Bart.; William Hyde Wol laston, M. 0. • , . Of the New Council lames Brodie, Esq. ; Robert Lord Carrington ; 'Richard Chenivix, Esq. ; Thomas Lord I)un (l,is ; Rev: Henry Fly, D. D. ; Mr. Stephen Lee ;. William George ' , :atop, M.D. ; George Shaw, M.D.; lames Smith son, Esq. ; George Holme Sumner, Esq, And the Officers were —the Right Hon. Sin Joseph Banks, Bart, K.B. President; William Marsderi,'Esq. Treasurer, William Hyde Wollaston, M. D. Humphry Davy, Esq. Secretaries. ' Afterwards thb Members of the Society dined t 0... gethe, as usual,-' at the Crovin and -AnchorTavern, • in the Strand, The munificence of the Duke of Northumberland has beeri.lately manifested upon Tyne Anderson, his Grace's tenant at .I\:Tewburn-f-lell, ing suffered severely by the flood id September last, the Duke's agents represented it • to his Grace, who was pleased to order 8001. to lee paid to him, in con sideration of the losses he had sustained'. • THE THEATREg.—.-The tragedy of the Roman 'Fa ther was again presented last night, at Covent Gar den Theatre, and was very well sustained in the prin cipal charaeters; but, the play itself is of so heavy a nature, that we cannot wohder..it • p!Qved but little attractive. `There wasbut a . scanty audience. They, lowever, received all the gratification which the drama, such as it is, and the abilities.of the per formers, could afford them, for' the party hostile to the proprietors were fewer than they nave ever been since the opening of the'Theatre. Indeed, except !ng now and then, some marks - of those voluntary infirmities which are indicated by coughing, sneezing, and hemming, there was no sign of the 0. P. squa dron, and there were but two or three of this invalid corps. The after-pi;:Le of Don Juan, as welt as the Play, therefore, passed off without interruption, and the theatre was cleared a: an early hour without any disturbance. THE LYCEUM.—Mrs. FORBES, who appeared in, the Comedy of The Dill, al ;his Theatre, last night assumed the character of Cicely. Homespun, in Mr. CoLmAN's very pleasant and interesting comedy of 'llte Heir at Law. Mrs. FORB,ES is evidently pos sessed‘ of plain good sense, and she, does not attempt too . much. Her aeling was marked by feeling a 4 well as judgment, if there was no striking display of theatrical genius. DOWTON, MATHEWS, and Pow- ELL, in Pangloss,- Lord Daher and Stecfast, ac- quitted themselves ably. The 7 forriret two were highly diverting, and the last played with his usual • sententious earnes . ness, and expression. Mr. AtioeD read a new Comedy in the Green Room, at the Lyceum, on Wednesday., The.naille of the Author has not transpired, but suspicion lights on the Manager himself. • • Mrs'.SIDDONS has returned ;o her cottage at West bourne-green, from Southampton. Gage, supposed to.be the murderer of -Mrs. Sty ling (as mentioned i❑ our Paper of Wednesday), has been apprehended. He was discovered near his fa, ther's house, at King's-Brompton. His name proves to be Tarr, not Gage. He ran away from his appren-• ticeship at King's-Brompton about Midsummer last. On being apprehended, no part of the property whatever was found on him. After undergoing se veral stria examinations before the Magistrates, he persists in his innocence. Nothing appears against him except his elopement, which he accounts for by asserting that he saw two men come into the court yard, on'which he left the barn, and ran away, being afraid that those persons came to apprehend him tor lately riding a horse, and throwing it down, which base is since dead. Saturday last a man was apprehended in White haven, charged with poisoning a young woman at wi gtot m, in Galloway. He was taken off in cus tody th next day, NAVAL NEW,c_4. Pon'nmourx, Nov. 30.—Arrived in the Flatboat the sloops, Lively, JAMES CROCKFORD, and Ken 6 THOS. -BAKER, both from Ipswich ; the Sally, W t 4. GREZN., and Betsey Emsley , DEMPSTER, front Oporto; the Fortuna, GIUSEPPE CASSAR, Maria, RIFLEY, both from Malta, for London ; Persia, BAINE, from London. LEITH, Nov. 28.—Arrived three Danish sloopgr prizes to the Childers, Heureux, and aicr, sloops a war. The Childers sloop of war arrived. in the Roads on Friday, after five weeks cruize, during which she captured two galliots, laden with deals, iron, and tar, and a brig with India produce, valued at 20,0001. which latter she has sent to the River. Sailed the Clumbie, SULLEVAN, f'Qr Liebau, Ift ballast. SHEERNESS, Nov. 30.—Saired his Majesty's brit Sabine, with a convoy to Flushing. DEAL, Nov. 30.—Arrived, his Majesty's 5 111 1 ° VielOry, Admiral Sir JAMES SAUMAREZ, from -tilt Baltic, last from Yarmouth Roads. Sallee, the Pori Mahon gun-brig, with a cow/ 0 Y of transports, for Flushing. Arrived, the Duchess of Bcdford, PATTERSOI`:" from Malta. GOTTENBURGH MAIL. GOTTENEURGII, Nov. 20.—General D'ADDEZ. SPARRE, who left this place on Tuesday last, 1 10 taken a circuitous route to Jonkspung, where ha iS tQ assist in the arrangements for a Peace betwee 3 Sweden and Denmark he will thence R roceed to the frontiers of Norway to meet the Prince AUGV S4 TEINBURO, Valthlille will accompany to this totivPl h et where the Prince is expected to make some fart'' arrangements respeeting his succession to the TWO . of Sweden. COPY OF A Z. ETTER FROM COPENHAGEN, DATBP tIOVEMBER 4. " Since my last letter to you, an intrigue of p curious nature has been discovered. The Hereditary 'Prince of Denmark, who is married to . a daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburgh, was called from ,hors e by military duties ; he had scarcely been gone thre° of days, when it was discovered that a Frenchtuao , reri the name. of Dui;ors, who was the Ballet-gas", and who had also been chosen to instru& the teas in. singing; bad been - I)iice - I'ilid -going to bet apartments at a late hour in the night. A guard was placed to watch his return, and at four in the morn ing he was seen leaving the Princess's bed-rnltr' --1 An express was immediately dispatched to the P rince ' to make him acquainted with the circuinst3' and on examining the Princess, she confessed -ll° guilt. " Durtrts was instantly sent, under an escor t to o Lubeck, never to return to Denmark, under pain - death ; and the Princess has since been sent to Alto' na. Messengers have been sent to all quarters, t° apprise her relations *of her condua, and a divot - o' ls expeeted to take place. " This same Dururs was some years ago in t " Swedish service, but condua was so 440 06 ' - that he was banished from the country." I, last. STOCKHOLM, NOV. 21.—Accorang to t he accounts from Abo, the new Council of Rege ne Y established in that place for the Administration of the Grand Duchy of Finland, ceded to Russia by t he last Treaty of Peace, has entered upon its funetions. JONKOPING, Nov. 18. —The Royal Danish Min i ' ster, charged to negotiate a Peace with Sweden , arrived here last Saturday, the I ith inst. nearly a t the. same tifie with the Swedish Plenipotentiar ies, and the Congress has already commenced its sittings and deliberations. Intelligence has been received from Lithuania th 4, the important town* of Minsk has been totally de' stroyed by fire, and that besides considerable daalge has been done in that country by bail-stones, s °‘ ll * of Chich weighed 2flh. The-Naval Monthly 'List up. to this day, wattlin g the following statement of our force employed on ac' tive service :'-108 sail of the line, 8 fifties and forty ". fOurs, t 55 frigates, 245 sloops, .16 bombs an d firs ..€ sl4s, 98 brigs, 39 cutters, 49 schooners, and 6 lu g , gers.--=-Total 723. The grand total comprising the, guard, store, prison and hospital ships, as,weli 3:14' those building and in ordinary, amounts to 25e 51' of the ling, .35 fifties and forty-fours, 259 ingata''' 314 sloops, bombs and fire-ships; 1 0 5 gun-vessels, 40 cutter, 53 . schooners, 6 tugg ers, yachts, 25 tenders.-1 13 1 . brigs, g' ROBBER Y .—Monday afternoon as Mr. Coonaber: clerk to a wholesale house in Tavistock - st reet, going from Henley-upon-Thames to MaidenheaGr.' he was stopped by two footpads, who presented tii,; one a pistol and the other a bludgeon, and deman d `: his money.: The robbers took from him 67! bank notes, and bills of exchange and country 133":. notes to '..tuuble that amount. Mr. Coolobe.r ad quested of them to return him his pocket-b00K,_,3,: l° i, bills of exchange, which were of no servic e to ;v ita and they promised to do so. These [ be' the country rotes, vs ere yesterday received' " Wa d address given by Mr. C. in London. Th e 1 . 9 1 14 64 . aerobs the fields it/wards Ccokti,Plo,